Self-winding electric clock



F. BUSSE SELF WINDING ELECTRIC CLOCK Filed Dec. 11. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l F. BUSSE SELF WINDING ELECTRIC CLOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' Filed D80. 11. 1923 Patented Jan. 13, 1925.

UNITED STATES FERDINAND Bossn, or BERLIN, GERMANY.

SELF -WINDING ELECTRIC CLOCK.

Application filed December 11, 1923. Serial No. 679,937.

To all whom it may concern:

vBe it known that I, FERDINAND BUSSE, a citizen of Germany, residing at Berlin, in the State of Prussia, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-finding Electric Clocks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

.My invention relates to improvements in self-winding electric clocks, and while useful for various purposes, is particularly adapted for use in connection with automobile clocks. More particularly my invention relates to clocks in which an electric motor is operated at intervals to wind the clock, the circuit through the motor being opened and closed by the movement of the spring barrel. One of the objects of the improvements is to provide a clock of this 'class in which the spring barrel or mechanismconnected therewith is normally relieved' of the switch operating member controlled thereby, said switch member being brought into engagement with the barrel or' associated part at the moment the circuit is to, be closed for winding the clock. \Vith this object in view the invention consists in providing a member such as a lever for normally holding the switch operating member out of engagement with the spring barrel 'or mechanism connected therewith, which lever is rocked by the spring barrel or a partmovable therewith slightly before the clock is to be rewound. By thus relieving the movement of. the clock of the pressure of the switch mechanism a large operating member may be provided which does not require nice finish in the manufacture as is the case with parts of the size of the parts of a clock. Furthermore the switch operating mechanism may be made independentof the clock mechanism and mounted on a frame of its own, and a small size movement of normal construction may be pro vided, which is mounted on the said frame and needs small changes of construction for adapting the same to the winding mechanism. I

Another object of the improvements is to provide means for arresting the clock in case the winding mechanism fails to operate. In one embodiment the switch operating lever acts as a locking member if it of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows, Fig. 3, is a-partial elevation looking from the left in Fig. l and showing the dial,

Fig. 4, is a detail sectional view taken on the line H of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrow,

Fig. 5, is an elevation similar to the one shown in Fig. 2 and showing a modification, and

Fig. 6, is a section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

In the example shown in'Figs. 1 to 4 the clock is disposed in a case comprising a cylindrical wall 8 secured to a reflector ring 6 and a lid 8 To the ring I) a ring 7) is secured which. is formed with an inner flange 1) adapted to have a clock movement of normal construction mounted therein. To the disk 1) two posts 79 are secured which provide a support for a bridge consisting of two plates 19.

Any preferred movement may be provided within the ring I). The figures show only the spring barrel 0, the gear teeth (Z provided thereon, the spring arbor c and.

the balance m. To the arbor c a gear wheel a is secured which is in mesh with a pinion f connected by a suitable. transmission gearing 9 with an electromotor 9-. The transmission gearing' is mounted on the bridge p and the electromotor is mounted within the rear part of the case 8 in front of the lid 8 so that it may be readily dismounted after removing the lid. To permit such dismounting independently of the transmission gearing 5 a coupling is provided between the motor shaft 1' and the shaft 9 of the gearing, which coupling consists of arms r and g secured to the said shafts and loosely connected with each other by a pin Q secured to the arm (Z and engaging in a bore of the arm r Current is supplied to the electromotor by binding posts it pro vided on the lid 8 and the motor circuit includes insulated spring contacts t connected respectively by a lead 2 and a slide arm h with a circuit make-and-break device consisting of a cam disk 7L and a finger if.

The gear (I is in engagement with the movement of the clock (not shown). In addition it is in mesh with a gear 2' of even diameter and number of revolutions, which gear is mounted on the ring I) and carries a disk formed with a notch j On a spindle 71/ a spring pressed lever L is mounted which is provided at its free end with a nose is? adapted for engagement by a spring pressed pawl'Z mounted on a spindle Z the spindles a and Z being rockingly mounted on the ring 5 and the bridge 12 The lever carries a pin Z1 normally held out of contact with the disk j, but adapted for engagement therewith and with the notch upon the release of the lever is by the pawl Z. The gear i carries a pin j in position for lifting the pawl Z out of engagement with the nose 70 of the .lever 70. Furthermore the contact making finger 71. is secured to and insulated from the lever is. The gear 0 carries the second contact 7L1 which is in the form of an insulated cam disk of spiral outline. Normally the finger and the disk ii are out of contact with each other, so that the circuit of the electromotor r is interrupted, but they are adapted to be brought into engagement with each other for supplying energy to the motor, as will be described hereinafter.

The rear end of the lever is is in pin and slot engagement with a lever m carrying a spring arm m adapted to make contact with the balance m of the movement for temporarily arresting the clock when winding thesame.

The tail of lever Z is formed with gear teeth Z which are in mesh with a pinion of secured to a spindle a carrying a disk m The latter is movable at the rear of a hole 12 made in the disk 7) and the dial plate and it shows two fields n and n of ditl'erent colors say white and red either one of which is in position for covering the hole n and for indicating whether or not the clock is being u ound.

The operation of the winding mechanism is "as follows:

Normally the parts are in the positions shown in the figures and more particularly in Fig. 2. The pawl Z engages the nose k of the lever 70, the arm h -is out of contact with the disk 71/ and the wire m does not make contact with the balance m, so that the clock runs. This position of the parts is indicated by the sector n displaying a white field at the rear of the window n made in the dial plate. The disk k does not take part in the movement of the work, because it is carried by the spring arbor 0 The movement of the barrel is transmitted to the Work through the gear teeth d, as is known in the art. In addition the said gear teeth impart rotary movement to the gear i turning the same in anti-clockwise direction. At the time the clock is nearly run down the pin j carried by the gear 1' gets into ongagement with the pawl Z and carries the same .along until the lever is is released. The sector 71. is rocked for displaying the red field, and the lever 70 isthrown by its spring towards the disk j and with its pin 70* bearing on the circumference of the said disk at a point slightly in advance of the notch 7' As the clock continues its movement the pin j gets into position for releasing the pawl Z which is rocked inwardly by its spring and 011 the outer face of the nose 70 the sector if still displaying the red field. Upon further movement of the gear 2' the notch advances into position for engagement by the pin 70*, whereupon the lever Z:

is rocked with its pin 76* into the said notch.

Thereby the wire m is brought into contact with the balance m so as to arrest the movement, and the arm b makes contact with the disk 7&1 for closing the circuit of the electromotor 1*.

By supplying energy to the clectromotor the gear wheel 6 provided on the spring shaft is rotated in clockwise direction for winding the clock and rotating the disk 71. The cam disk 11 gradually rocks the lever 7t outwardly. lVhen the arm 7L arrives at the part of largest radius of the cam ]L1 the lever 7.: releases the pawl Z and permits the same to fall into initial position, and when the arm passes beyond the said part the lever is is thrown inwardly and into the position shown in Fig. 2, in which the motor circuit is interrupted. However, the motor continues its rotation by its momentum, until the disk h is substantially in the position shown in Fig. 2. By the last part of the inward movement of the pawl Z the sector n is set into position for displaying the white field, thus indicating that wind ing is completed.

Should'the wire m fail to arrest the movement the gear 2' continues its movement until the rear wall of the notch j makes contact with the pin is. Thereby the clock is arrested, so that it can not run down beyond the limit set by the winding mecha- 'nism.

As shown in Fig. 2 the lever 7c bears through the pawl Z on the pin 7' for a comparatively long time, the face of the nose k engaged by the pin j being comparatively long. Practically only a short rock- .ing movement of the pawl Z is necessary for after changing only one or two of its elements such as the spring arbor. By disposing the levers controllingthe winding mechanism on the ring I) and independently of the clock mechanism they may be as large as is desirable in View of convenience in the manufacture, and it is not necessalzy to construct the same with minute accuracy to insure exact operation, as would be the case when constructing the same as parts of the clock mechanism, Notwithstanding their large dimension they do not interfere with the running of .the clock, because they are 'in engagement therewith only fora short period of time.

Another impoitant feature resides in mounting the parts of the apparatus, viz., the clock, the motor and the winding mechanism independently of one another and so that either one of the parts may be separately repaired.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown a modification in which the means for making and breaking the circuit of the electromotor are made in a. different way. The general construction of the winding mechanism is the same as has been described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4, and the same reference characters have been used to indicate similar parts, 'so that it is not necessary to repeat the description of the said parts.

The dislf j is driven together with the movement by the-gear wheels d, 2', and the lever is carrying thepin k is normally held in inoperative position by the spring pressed contact It and a spring arm h adapted to be thrown into contact with the contact it by the tail end of the lever is. For returning the lever Z into normal position and interrupting the motor circuit, a spring pressed slide bar 0 is mounted in eyes 0 0 the end of which isadapted for engagement with the lever A, and which carries an arm 0 The gear wheel 6 secured to the spring ,arbor carries a disk 0 havinga pin 0* mounted thereon, which pin is adapted when 7 winding the clock to engage the arm 0 for shifting the rod 0 away from the lever k. The motor 9 is disposed at the side of the clock and its shaft drives the gear f through the intermediary of a worm gearing f The operation of the winding mechanism As distinguished from is as follows: Normally the parts are in the positions shown in Fig. 5 in which the lever in opens the motor circuit and the pine is out of contact with the disk j. The disk :5 takes part in the movement of the work, and when the clock has nearly run down the pin j pushes thepawl Z outwardly, so that the lever is is pressed inwardly by its spring with the pin k bearing on the circumference of the disk j. Upon further anovement of the disk the notch j gets into position in front of t e pin 70, whereupon the lever 70 is rocked further inwardly so far that its tail closes the circuit make-andbreak device 721 ,71,. In the meantime the pin 7' has released the pawl Z which is therefore pressed by its spring on the outer face of the lever is. The sector n and the spring m are operated in the manner described above. By closing the motor circuit the motor is started and the clock wound. Thepin 0" takes part in the rotary movement of the spring arbor, and it carries along the arm 0 and shifts the rod 0 rearwardly in opposition to the spring acting thereon. After it has passed the said arm the rod 0 is thrown to the left and against the lever is, which is thereby rocked out of engagement with the notch j". Thereby the spring m releases the balance m and the motor circuit is interrupted. The pawl Z is rocked by its spring into the position for holding the lever is away from the disk j, and the lever is is pressed inwardly and on the pawl Z by its spring;

I claim:

1. In a self-winding electric clock, the combination, with the clock movement, and electric winding means, of an energizing circuit for said winding means, a make-andbreak device arranged in said circuit and including a spring-backed swinging beam, a second spring-backed swinging beam normally engaging the first beam and holding it under tension in position of circuit-ln'eaking, means operating when the clock is run down to a definite extent and connected with said movement for swinging said second beam from its engagement with the first beam, and leaving the said first beam free to move under spring tension to circuit-closing position, and means connected with the winding mechanism for swinging the beam first named against spring tension back to its position of circuit-breaking.

2. In a self-winding electric clock, the combination, with the clock movement, and electric'winding means, of an automatically actuated lever adapted to throw said winding means into and out of operation, a mem ber normally holding said lever in position for throwing said winding means out of operation, means connected with the movement and normally out of engagement with said member and lever for setting the member into position for releasing said lever, means 1 ion movable with said clock movement to hold said lever in an intermediate position until said member has been released from the setting means thereof, and means adapted to be operated by the winding mechanism for setting said lever into position for being held by said member in position for throwing the winding mechanism out of operation.

I 3. In a self-winding electric clock, the combination, with the clock movement, and electric winding means, of an automatically actuated lever adapted to throw said winding means into and out of operation, a member normally holding said lever in position for throwing said winding means out of operation, means connected with the movement and normally out of engagement with said member and lever for setting the member into position for releasing said lever, a disk rotatable with said clock movement and located in the position for arresting said lever in an intermediate position and having a portion in position for permitting said lever to move into position for throwing the winding mechanism into operation after said member has been released from the clock movement, and means adapted to be operated by the winding mechanism for moving said lever into position for being held by said member in position for throwing the winding mechanism out of operation.

at. In a self-winding electric clock, the combination, with the clock movement, and electric winding means, of an automatically actuated lever adapted to throw said winding means into and out of operation a member normally holding said lever in position for throwing said winding means out of operation, means connected with the movement and normallyout of engagement with said member and lever for setting the memher into position for releasing said lever, a disk rotatable with said clock movement and located in position for arresting said lever in an intermediate position and having a portion in position for permitting said lever to move into position for throwing the winding mechanism into operation after said member has been released fromthc clock movement, and a spiral cam adapted to be operated by the winding mechanism for moving said lever into position for being held by said member in position for throwing the winding mechanism out of operation and having an abrupt portion permitting said lever to move into position for throwingsaid winding means intooperation.

5. In a self-winding electric clock, the combination, with the clock movement, and electric winding means, of an automatically actuated lever adapted to throw said winding means into and out of operation, a member normally holding said lever in position for throwing said winding means out of operation, means connected with the movement and normally out of engagement with said member and lever for setting the member into position for releasing said lever, a disk rotatable with said clock movement and located in positionfor arresting said lever in an intermediate position and having a portion in position for permitting said lever to move into position for throwing the winding mechanism into operation after said member has been released from the clock movement, and a spiral cam mounted on the spring arbor and adapted to be operated by the winding mechanism for moving said lever into position for being held by said member in position for throwing the wimh ing mechanism out of operation and'having an abrupt portion permitting said lever to move into position for throwing said winding means into operation.

(5. In a self-winding electric clock, the combination, with the clock movement, electric winding means, and an energizing circuit therefor, of a spiral cam included in said circuit and operatively connected with the winding mechanism for being rotated thereby, adevice included in the circuit and adapted to make contact with said cam for closing the electric circuit, a member normally holding said device out of contact with said cam, and means movable with the clock movement for setting said member into position for releasing the device, said cam being formed so as to return said device into position for being held by said member.

7. In a self-winding electric clock, the combination, with the clock movement, electric Winding means, and an energizing circuit therefor, of a spiral cam included in said circuit and operatively connected with the winding mechanism for being rotated thereby, a lever included in the circuit and adapted to make contact with said cam for closing the electric circuit, a member normally holding said lever out of contact with said cam, means movable with. the clock movement for setting said member into position for releasing'the lever. said ram being formed so as to' return said lever into position for being held. by said member, a disk rotatable with the clock movement and located in position for arresting said lover in an intermediate position, said disk being formed with a portion located and formed so that said lever is free to move into cngagtv ment with said cam.

8. In a self-winding electric clock, the combination, with the clock movement, and electric winding means, of mechanism. controlled by the clock movement to throw said winding means into operation, means controlled by the winding mechanism to throw the winding means out of operation, and means operative when said mechanism has been actuated to arrest the clock movement.

9. In a self-winding electric clock, the

lll)

portion in position for permitting said lever to move into position for throwing the winding mechanism into operation after said member has been released from the clock movement, said portion having a shoulder adaptedfor arresting engagement with said disk, and means adapted to be operated by the winding mechanism for moving said leber in ver into position for being held by said memmechanlsm out of operation. 10. In a self-winding electric clock, the

combination, with the clock movement, and

electric winding means, of an automaticallyactuated lever adapted to throw said winding means into and out of operation, a member normally holding said lever in position for throwing said winding means out of operation, means connected with the movement and normally out of engagement with said member and lever for setting the member' into position for releasing said lever, a disk rotatable with said clock movement and located in position for arresting said lever in an intermediate osition and having a portion in position or permittmg sald lever to move into posltlon for throwing the winding mechanism into operation after .said

member has been released from the clock movement, means operative when sald lever engages in said portion .for arresting the clock movement, and means adapted to be operated by the winding mechanism for osition for throwing the winding- 'moving said lever into position for being held by said member in position for throwing the winding mechanism out of operation.

11. In a self-winding electric clock, the combination, with the clock'movement, and electric winding means, of mechanism controlled by theclock movement to throw said windin meansinto operation, means .con- .trolled b the winding mechanism to throw the win ing means out of operation, and means connected with said mechanism for indicating that the mechanism has been operated for throwing the winding means into operation. y

12. In a self-winding electric clock the combination, with a clock movement including a constantly rotating gear wheel of a second gear wheel in mesh with the first, and

rotatable in unison with the first, and normally free of restraint in its response to the rotation of the first, a movable member bearing acontact piece, and means including a member borne by said second gear wheel for effecting movement of .said movable member when said second gear wheel in the course of vrotation has reached a predetermined point..

13. In a self-win'di electric clock the combinatiomwith a 0100 movement including a constantly rotating gear wheel, of a second gear wheel in mesh withthe first and rotatable in unison with the first and normally free of restraint in its response to the rotation of the first, a spring-.backedmovable member bearing a contact piece, and v a latch normally holding said movable member retracted, said second gear wheel bearing a latch-(engaging abutment.

.In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature in thepresence of two witnesses.

FERDINAND BUSSE. 

